Map of study area and data collection sites

Brunswick County Ground-Water-Level Monitoring

Water-level data-collection equipment at a ground-water monitoring well site in Calabash, Brunswick County, North Carolina.

Background

Since 2000, the population of Brunswick County has grown by more than 22%, nearly three times the average 7.9% growth experienced by the State of North Carolina as a whole (NC State Demographics, 2006). A growth of this magnitude places significant stress on Brunswick County’s natural resources. County planners have recognized the potential consequences of land use changes associated with growth and the resulting increased demand on water resources by consolidating the many public utility providers into one organization and embarking on an aggressive utility expansion plan. In order to make informed water resource planning decisions, County officials need up-to-date water-resource information. To address concerns about the availability of ground water in the Brunswick County area, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Brunswick County initiated a cooperative water-resources program in 1998.

Objective

The principal study objective is to continue water-level data collection at the existing monitoring network to establish a long-term data set that can be used to monitor future changes in water levels and to aid in the future management of the county's ground-water resources.

Approach

As part of the cooperative ground-water study between the USGS and Brunswick County, a network of monitoring-well sites with ground-water-level recorders was established at various locations in Brunswick County (fig. 1). A summary of the wells and their locations for monitoring water-level conditions in the surficial, Castle Hayne, Peedee, and Black Creek aquifers is provided in table 1. Ground-water levels at each well are measured at 1-hour intervals, and the measurements are logged by a data recorder.

Progress

During fiscal year 2006, activities conducted for the Brunswick County Cooperative Program included:

• Monitoring of ground-water levels
  • The USGS has been maintaining continuous water-level recorders on 11 wells since October 2000 (figure 1). Nine of the eleven wells collect water levels hourly and transmit the data in near real time. Updated water-levels are available every 4 hours via the USGS National Water Information System web page (http://waterdata.usgs.gov/nc/nwis/current/?type=gw).
• Maintenance of Brunswick County area hydrologic databases
  • The USGS continued updating the National Water Information System database with ground-water level and well site information.
• Publishing annual summaries of local water-resources conditions
  • Summaries of local water-resources conditions are published annually. Water-level data collected in 2006 will be available April 1, 2007 in the USGS report “Water-resources data for the United States, Water Year 2006” U.S. Geological Survey Water-Data Report WDR-US-2006 available online at http://pubs.water.usgs.gov/wdr2006. North Carolina Water Resources Data Reports for years before 2006 can be found online at http://nc.water.usgs.gov/reports/WDR/index.html.